Lyrics
by Osoji Nosferatu
Summary: The words in songs can be very, very powerful. In some cases, imperfection can be seen as perfection. Inevitably, love is a desire for one person out of 8 billion and no one else. A perceived-as-average young man and a clumsy young woman meet one day, under the confines of the threads of fate. Will romance bloom? (Stahl x Sumia modern-day-AU.)
1. Keys

**AN: So if it wasn't easy to see who I wanted to ship Stahl with, then you aren't very observant. ;) But yes, after thoroughly watching videos on Stahl and Sumia's respective supports, I knew that they had to be a thing in the game, but they aren't... and the only other one to have done this pairing is smileplease91. And... that's where I draw this inspiration for this fic from. After reading her drabble series "A Day in the Life" I came to wonder: How amazingly cute would these two be if I paired them together? **

**Well, that's what you'll find out. Modern day AU, so multiple references will be made regarding Sumia and Stahl's enjoyments. However! I will definitely keep the pairings the same! So... Lon'qu x Panne, Robin x Nowi, and Chrom x Olivia. (Lucina and Yarne are toddlers in this.) **

**And I'd like to thank everyone for your continued support of this series. It means a lot and I'd love it if you could stay with me on this ride!**

**Reviews, follows, favorites, and constructive criticism are hugely appreciated. :) Thanks so much!**

**4/26/15 UPDATE: The line breaks didn't appear the first time, so I went back in and added them.**

* * *

"There, there, little one. It's okay," Stahl cooed as he held a young, crying Lucina on his lap. "Here, look at this," the young man offered, holding out a plushie of a sword that he knew she loved. Lucina's cries turned to sniffles and a small smile spread across the young girl's face. With eager hands, she grabbed the hilt of the sword, swinging it around and taking great joy whenever it smacked Stahl in the face. He pretended to be slain.

"Ah! You got me!" Stahl cried, holding his head in dramatic pain to lighten up the child's mood. "You're so strong, Lucy!"

Little Lucina grinned a toothy grin with a few teeth missing, causing Stahl to smile and pick her up in his arms. He hefted her up and over his shoulders, letting her sit upon her perch. She dug her hands into his unruly brunette hair, playing with it and doing nothing to help and alleviate the messiness. Suddenly, Lucina yanked on his hair, drawing a yelp from him as he lifted her off of his shoulders and glared at her.

"Now what was that for, young lady?" Stahl reprimanded, trying his best to hold a serious-face.

Lucina shrugged and managed to stutter out, "Not... go..."

"You don't want me to leave? Oh, Lucy, I'm sorry, but I have to go to my daddy's workplace now," Stahl slumped, looking genuinely upset as well. He cherished the time they spent together, along with all of her other little friends. There was her friend Severa, who had quite the bratty side to her unless you got on her good side. Kjelle loved to fight and tussle with the boys, often with her coming out the victor. Morgan absolutely loved to hang out with Owain and Cynthia, who were often away on a 'grand adventure for heroes only.' Noire often joined the trio, only offering words of confidence when she burst forth with fiery speech.

Yep. It was colorful bunch of children. The daycare was run by Chrom, Lucina's father. Everyone looked up to him, children included. He was a natural-born leader, earning him a favorite spot in the kids' hearts. Stahl often wondered how he did it with only the help of his sister, Lissa, a woman named Maribelle, and himself. Especially himself. Sure, the kids loved him dearly, but he wasn't much help other than that. Yes, his father's medicine often helped heal the children that hurt themselves during play- namely Kjelle and Cynthia- but he didn't feel like he was helping much. Or he just didn't give himself enough credit.

"Come back?" Lucina asked, tilting her young head and looking up at him with giant puppy-dog eyes. A pout began to form on her lips, drawing a grin from his mouth as he gently set her down and looked at her.

"Oh, of course, Lucina. I'll be back tomorrow at the same time," Stahl stated, standing up and brushing his clothes off. Looking up, he could see the glances of the other children being averted from their play and settling on him. Cynthia whipped her head up and flashed him a grin that was missing two front teeth.

"Bye-bye, mister Stahl!" she shouted, waving her hand in the air as she jumped. Stahl waved back enthusiastically, smiling at the energetic young girl. His attention was drawn to Owain and Morgan leaping onto each of his strong arms, shouting and yelling their adventurous exploits.

"No, Stahl! Don't go out there, the monsters will get you!" Morgan shrieked, swinging on his arm as she yelled. "There isn't anything good out there!"

"But my dad is out there!" Stahl replied, shaking Morgan off of his arm. She twisted her mouth into a pout, trying not to grin. "And your wonderful father will be here soon to pick you up. He's out there too, you know!"

"Aw. Come back soon, okay, mister Stahl?" Owain complained, dropping from the other arm as he spoke. "We like you here."

"And I like being here, too," Stahl grinned as he ruffled the blonde boy's hair affectionately.

Stah grabbed his coat and slipped his Chuck Taylors onto his feet. With one last smile, he shouted out, "Bye-bye, everyone!"

As he turned his back, he left to the sounds of "Goodbye!" and "Come back soon!" A laugh escaped his lips as he set his headphones onto his head, followed suit by his Galaxy S5. He sighed as he glanced at the phone. It had been giving him enough trouble lately, maybe it was time to change phones or network carriers.

Immediately, he set his music on Shuffle and was surprised when Mat Kearney's hit, "Billion," came flowing through his headphones. He didn't remember purchasing this song. Maybe Laurent had gotten hold of his phone and downloaded it. After all, his brain was exceptionally developed, letting him be fascinated with the most recent of technologies.

A message popped up in his lock screen as he made his way down the street. His father had sent him a text saying that something happened at the shop and he wouldn't be needed that day. So, being a nice father, he told Stahl to go enjoy the rest of the afternoon for himself. Stahl grinned and made a mental note to thank his dad in person later. With the post-college medical courses he was enrolled in currently, there wasn't much time for pleasantries beside the occasion where he squeezed the daycare into his schedule.

Stahl was really beginning to enjoy the song; it was catchy and kind of cute as well. His head bobbed in time with the music and his step began to look and feel more rhythmic. The music was so loud and his headphones did such a good job at noise-cancelling that he didn't even hear the timid call for help, as there was no one on the street besides him and the one who needed his help.

* * *

"Gods, gods, gods, gods..." Sumia mumbled as she paced outside her restored Firebird. She slapped her forehead. "No, this can't be happening..."

But it was, and as fate may have it, she'd just locked her keys in her car. And to top it off, she had recently been evicted from her job as a waitress, as this recent trip of hers had sent expensive pasta flying all over a woman's pantsuit. The manager, furious, had apologized to the customer profusely and insisted that Sumia get out of the store as quickly as she came in. The woman in the pantsuit followed her out of the door, smiling and telling her it was okay. The fiery-redhead had said, "Hell, no worries. I don't even like this suit." Sumia was shocked at Sully's reaction, thinking she'd be more infuriated then she actually was. The two exchanged numbers and went on their ways, both feeling a little better about what happened.

Unfortunately, this didn't help Sumia's jobless situation. The brunette had yet to find another application, and jobs were scarce in this economy. She barely had enough funds to scrape by and keep sending Cynthia to daycare. If she wasn't deathly careful about her money, she and Cynthia would find themselves living on the streets.

That was the last place she wanted to be, after what happened five years ago...

The sidewalk and streets were both empty, void of cars or passersby. The sun was beginning to set as she sighed, exhaling a stream of breath into the frigid winter air. _At least the sunset is pretty, _she thought, trying to remain optimistic. The optimism was lost, however, as the severity of the situation finally began to fall on her. She didn't have the funds to call for a business to come and unlock her car, effectively leaving her stranded as long as she remained jobless. Thankfully, the daycare wasn't too long of a walk from here, so she could go pick up Cynthia at her convenience.

_Thank the gods, _she thought, noticing someone walking down the sidewalk. Maybe she could borrow his phone and call... who? She had no money to her name and no phone, since she'd canceled her own plan as soon as she lost her job, with every cent being put towards apartment rent. Then it hit her. Her best friend, Cordelia, had recently married, and her husband was a thief in his former days. It was a long shot, but maybe she and her husband, Gaius, would be able to come and help her out.

That is, if this young man would reply to her yells and hand gestures of desperation. Eventually, as he got closer, he noticed the woman who was waving like a man possessed and shouting at him. The messy-haired brunette flipped an earcup off of his head.

"Sorry about that!" Stahl sheepishly replied, cheeks flushing a bit. "D'ja need something?"

"Well, I accidentally locked the keys in my car," Sumia blushed, staring at her car door to avoid eye contact. He walked over to the Pontiac and whistled in appreciation.

"That's one hot ride you've got there, er..." Stahl trailed off, not knowing her name just yet.

"Sumia. My name's Sumia," she replied, smiling slightly and extending her hand. He placed his hand into hers and shook firmly. "And thanks! My dad gave it to me as a present for winning a national writing contest."

"It's nice to meet you, Sumia," Stahl replied, smiling back the brunette woman standing in front of him. "Wow, you must be pretty good if you won! I like writing, but I'm no good at it," he shrugged, chuckling at his own inadequacy. "Hey, I have a friend who's a master lock-picker. He'd be able to get this door open for you in no time at all," Stahl suggested, retrieving his phone and spinning it around on his finger. "Want me to give him a call?"

Sumia shook her head in shock at this total stranger's offer for help. No one she knew was this friendly and hospitable!

Stahl tilted his head. "You sure? It looks like you could use a hand." He'd misinterpreted her head shake, and in all honesty, he couldn't be blamed.

"What? Oh! Er, I was just thinking how nice you must be to help me out like this, not knowing me and all," Sumia hastily replied, waving her hands out in front of her as she spoke, trying to brush away his assumption with her hands, as if that would ever work.

"Oh. I see," the average young man countered, tapping his screen a few times to bring up Cordelia's number. "I'll call his wife really quick, just give me a second." The dial tone buzzed in his ear as he waited for his harp-friend to pick up her phone.

"Okay," Sumia smiled. It was kind of him taking time out of his day to help her. Judging by his looks, most notably his hair, she guessed he was out of college, mid-twenties, the same as herself. Suddenly, he turned to her, motioning for her to look at him.

"Hey, Sumia? We can go wait at the Shepherd's Day Care if you want to. It's a lot warmer and there's a bunch of endearing kids there that love people," Stahl whispered, jerking his head in the direction he'd just come from. "Oh, hey! Cordelia, I've got a bit of a problem..."

_Cordelia? _Sumia thought, shocked. He knew her best friend? How?

"You see, I ran into this woman who left her keys in her car- and locked it," Stahl giggled, giving Sumia a good-natured wink as he said the words. She stuck her tongue out at him. "I was wondering if you could get Gaius to pick her car's lock and get them out for her. Do me a favor?"

"I'll see, Stahl," Cordelia replied through the phone, sounds of shuffling coming through the speaker as she moved around. "Gaius, sugar? Want to do my friend Stahl a favor?"

Gaius's voice could be heard through the phone. "Done. What candy is he giving me?"

"Tell him I'll buy him a package of Milky Ways," Stahl sighed, shaking his head at his friend's husband's sugary orientation. "And pick us up at the Shepherd's Day Care."

"Stahl will buy you a package of Simply Caramel Milky Ways," Cordelia said, altering his offer a bit to meet her own candy preferences. He rolled his eyes at the action.

"Let's go, Red. We've got a car to pick."

Sumia laughed at Gaius's predictable response. "Thanks so much, Stahl."

"Don't mention it. Anyone with a heart would do it," Stahl replied, smiling at her and shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"Then a lot of people don't have hearts..." Sumia mumbled, glancing at the ground as she spoke. Too many people without a heart had hurt her, leaving her surprised to no end when someone did a good deed for her benefit.

"Hm?"

"Uh, n-nothing. It's nothing," Sumia replied, her head darting upwards and making eye contact with him once again.

"If you say so." Stahl shrugged and shifted his leg to let his phone sit in his pocket better. Feeling that a change of topic would be nice, he began to speak about technology. He wasn't the most knowledgeable, but by no means was he in the dark about the latest technological trend.

"Geez, what are they trying to do to people who wear skinnys?" Stahl sighed mockingly, looking at the huge bulge of a phone in his pocket. "It's like they're trying to get us to become gangsters to let us fit our phones in our pockets. Can you imagine it?" Stahl muttered, motioning to his pants. "I mean, come on. Imagine me with a nasty sag."

Sumia began to giggle, all depressing thoughts leaving her head as she began to laugh at his imitation of a gangster. Soon enough, the both of them were laughing, completely forgetting about her past as they strolled to the daycare. Eventually, Stahl caught his breath and turned to Sumia.

"So why'd you come out here, anyway? Not trying to probe, I'm just trying to make conversation to keep it from getting too awkward," Stahl said with a chuckle.

"I'm job-hunting. I recently lost my job as a waitress at Olive Garden," Sumia mumbled, letting her eyes fall to the ground as she replied. "I tripped over a table leg and sent a tray of ravioli splattering all over a woman named Sully..."

"Sully? I know her. She's a bit rowdy, but she'd pretty cool. We grew up together, you see, so we're pretty tight. In fact, she has a kid at the daycare, but I can't seem to remember her name..." Stahl rambled, doing a good job at keeping Sumia's mind off of her situation. She appreciated how quickly Stahl was working his way into her heart.

"Kjelle," Sumia replied instantly, having visited the daycare now and then when she came to drop Cynthia off. "She's good friends with my little Cynthia." Realizing she'd said far too much, she clamped her mouth shut and continued to walk faster. Before Stahl could warn her about her speed of walking, she tripped and fell onto the sidewalk, hitting her head on a brick as she crumpled to the ground. The last thing she saw among the stars and black spots was Stahl's face shouting her name over and over.

* * *

Sumia dreamed of Pegasi and battles being fought alongside a strong warrior by the name of Chrom and his tactician, Robin, while fending off enemies with a lance while her friend Cordelia rode a Pegasus while shooting off beams of fire from an Arcfire tome and Stahl rode into the fray on a horse clad in green armor while swinging a sword...

_Pop. _

"Hunh?" Sumia snorted, waking up from her knockout. "Where am I? Gods! Wolves! Risen-riding wolves!" she screamed, panicking a little. "Hrrg..."

Stahl rolled on the ground, laughing his head off. "Wolves?! RISEN-RIDING wolves?! Gahahaha! That's the best thing I've heard all week!" the messy-haired brunette continued, clutching his gut from laughter. Tears began to trickle out of his eyes as he laughed at her blunder.

"That isn't funny..." Sumia mumbled, clutching her head in agony. Despite being in a good enough mood to chuckle a bit at her own goof-up, she still wasn't feeling the best yet. "Stahl, be a man and help me up."

"Okay, okay," Stahl sighed exasperatedly, grinning to let the poor girl know that he was joshing. "There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, y'know. Gimme your hand," Stahl giggled. For some peculiar reason, the young man thought that line was familiar from somewhere before. Maybe someone else had used it before him?

Mumbling incoherent musings about 'inconsiderate young men' and 'rude', Sumia found it easy to grasp his hand and be pulled up by her newly-made companion. Once she was on her feet, a splitting headache planted itself into her brain, making her lose her balance and stumble into his chest. Despite his skinny appearance, he felt like he was quite well-built. Attractive, lean muscle mass must have been what was made of. Her insides turned green with envy; she wished she could be built like that- with the female version of lean muscle mass, of course.

"W-whoa! Sumia, are you okay?" Stahl inquired, catching her and holding her shoulders to steady her. "Do you need some ibuprofen? Ice?"

"N-no... I'm okay..." Sumia whispered, still clutching her head as she backed away from the fit mass of lean muscle in front of her. "My head's... tougher than this." In actuality, she'd endured falls that were much worse. She shook her head, hoping to let the headache fly right out. "Let's keep going to the daycare. How long was I out?" Sumia was still a bit woozy, but she knew she'd be all right. Stahl, however, held his doubts.

"I don't know... you were out for a while and you don't look super steady just yet."

"Stahl, I'm fine, really. I've fallen through worse times... er, I've taken more hits than this," Sumia stumbled over her words as she spoke, earning a furtive glance from him when she wasn't looking. "I'm clumsy. I fall a lot. Let's move on," she stated briskly, and began to walk towards the Shepherd's Day Care.

Stahl shrugged. He knew better than to argue with a woman. "Fine, fine, we'll go. But I'm so going to assault you with 'I told you so's' if I'm right and you fall again."

"Glad we see eye-to-eye," Sumia grumbled, walking faster to put some distance in between her and Stahl.

"Hey, wait! What'd I do?" Stahl yelled, jogging to catch up with Sumia. "I'm just worried, that's all!"

Sumia stopped and turned to him, a cautious, yet interested glint in her eyes. "Worried, you say?"

"Yes. We're friends now, so I should be worried. Sorry for the lame child-sounding talk, but it's just as true for kids as it is adults," he replied bluntly, shrugging his shoulders as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. To him it was; to her it was the least obvious.

"Friends...?"

"Sumia... did something happen? To make your trust in everyone be broken?" Stahl gently asked. "Even though I just met you, you can tell me. That's a promise." The brunette boy sent a warm smile her way, forcing her mind to know it was genuine.

"Stahl... I want to tell you. I don't know why, but I really want to tell you. But... I can't. Can we meet a few times in the future before I tell you? You know, to like, get to know each other?" Sumia inquired, nervousness lining her emotional system for a second. Why should she be nervous? It was just a friendly meeting between aspiring friends.

Nothing more.

* * *

**AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 2 will be out soon... I can't promise a date so I'll just leave your imagination to fill everything else in. :D Let me know what you thought of it. :) Thanks!**

**~The Slain Executioner~**


	2. Heart

**AN: So sorry for the long wait? I have work, school, woman, and video games, so I'm kind of busy. But anyway, let's get onto the review responses. (There were so many! It surprised me and I'm glad you all liked it!) **

**Kyzor: I always thought Sumia was left out when it came to lasting favorite characters, being replaced with Chrom, Robin, Lucina, etc. But she's technically Chrom's cameo wife...? So I figured, "Why not give Sumia someone who complements, but is not identical, to her character?" And after reading smileplease91's story, I felt even more spurred on to write this. Sumia is also getting a bit of tragic backstory, so this'll (hopefully) enhance her more (and gives us Stahl's amazingness to comfort her.) **

**GPuzzle: You requested that? Well, kudos to you sir. I have white haired Cynthia, because yis. **

**Gunlord: Thanks!**

**Smileplease: I wanted to incorporate every (or close to) the first generation of the Shepherds, and I think that I will be able to, with a few exceptions like Henry :( Gregor, Frederick, etc. So it will be more circular, but with a few left-outs... if I could have one pairing inserting into FEA, it would be StahlxSumia for sure. **

**Triple: How do you manage that? Stahl is... meh as a unit! Well if you exclude his decent skill stat, Swordmaster, and pair him with Panne for Astra, then he's all right. Well... Chrom can only marry Olivia, Sully, Maribelle, and Sumia. (I've never tried magic Lucina or suck-Lucina 'Sully cough') I've never done Au's, but this is a lot of fun and I might want to do more in the future! :D Sweet! So... 90k gold out of 100k gold. Glad you like it! **

**Without further ado, here's ch. 2! (#poetry)**

**5/7/15 UPDATE: The line breaks didn't show up so I added them. **

* * *

Cynthia had given her mother a thoroughly hard time about her being with a man, drawing irritated, Cordelia-like sighs from the clumsy brunette's mouth. She'd explained to her daughter that Stahl was a nice man who helped Mommy get into her car after she locked her keys into it. The young girl had ignored every single thing she'd said and kept going on and on about what she thought of Stahl. Eventually, she had to threaten to ground the poor thing just to get her to shut up. She'd never do it, but it worked, that was for certain. Cynthia had said nothing on their way back. However, Sumia couldn't keep the giant grin off of the little girl's face.

However, as she climbed into her Firebird that Gaius unlocked with absolutely no trouble at all (And making him promise that he wouldn't pick his way into her car without her permission), she couldn't help but feel excited as she drove back to her apartment. There wasn't anything else she could describe her and Stahl's meeting... besides as a date. After all, there wasn't anything wrong with this, was there? They were college kids; naturally they date people here and there with no strings attached. Still, she couldn't help but feel that her heart was moving too fast. Sumia mentally reprimanded herself for refusing to listen to her heart's consul. However, love meant throwing yourself into the line of fire with high-risk, high-reward.

Love? What?

Much too soon for those thoughts.

She visibly shook her head as she tried to blast her too-far-gone future thoughts out of her head with music flowing through her Apple EarPods. Either way, she turned back to the mirror, messing with her hair one last time to make sure she got her outfit right. She figured that since he was so laid-back, at least, that's what she thought of him, he wouldn't care if she went casual rather than to impress. So, she simply wore a pair of blue candy-colored skinny jeans, black-and-white Chuck Taylors, and a black polo shirt that hugged her athletic form loosely, but nicely. With one last, final swish, her planned-messy bun fell into place exactly where she liked it to be, leaning towards the right side of her head. She smiled at her appearance; she was satisfied with how she looked.

Grabbing the keys to her car, she plucked her small handbag off of the table and hopped into her Firebird. She kicked the powerful classic vehicle to life, bringing a roar from its engine and a squeal of happiness from her. With a few taps on her iPhone, she set the directions to the local corner cafe, "A Taste of the Borderlines," between Ylisse avenue and Plegia boulevard. Raindrops began to fall as she walked inside. Sumia sat down to wait for 'her date,' smiling and telling the waiter that she'd order shortly when Stahl arrived. The teen, not even out of high school, introduced himself as Ricken and told her that he'd be waiting on her and Stahl this afternoon. She chuckled as the young boy nearly stumbled over a blonde-haired-pigtailed teenage girl walking through door; Chrom's little sister, Lissa.

Sumia smiled. This would be a great day- if the damned man would show up one of these days. She sighed, pulled out her phone, and opened up Clash of Clans to kill some time. With any luck, she'd find someone with enough resources to atone for her horrible raiding strategy...

* * *

"GREAT... AETHER!" Stahl yelled as she unleashed the Radiant Hero's Final Smash onto poor Gaius. Cordelia got caught up in the blast and took some damage as well. As soon as Stahl netted the K.O on Gaius, the match ended, setting him one point ahead of Cordelia and two ahead of Gaius. Cordelia was playing as Female Robin from Fire Emblem: Awakening, and Gaius was playing as the Hero-King of legend. Strangely enough, the Robin they knew in real life shared close similarities between the Robin in Awakening...

"You'll get no sympathy from me," Stahl chuckled as he taunted his friends after his close-comeback. "In this case, I don't fight for my friends!"

"Suck it," Gaius mumbled, sticking a candy bar into his mouth and dejectedly munching on it as he brooded over his loss. "Here," the former thief muttered, tossing a lollipop into Stahl's mouth. "Suck."

"Mff!" Stahl choked, pulling the sugary treat out of his mouth. "I hate suckers!"

"Good thing you didn't marry him, then," Cordelia laughed as she set her Wii U gamepad down. "Besides, don't you have a date with my lovely Sumia?" the redhead stated, glancing at the clock. "Holy... gods, Stahl! You're late!" Cordelia cried, slapping Stahl's shoulder as she would a horse's backside.

"Hunh? WHOA!" Stahl exclaimed, leaping from the couch and stripping off his sweatpants and throwing on a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt that advertised his favorite anime, Steins;Gate. Without taking the time to do his hair, he threw a beanie on and slipped his laceless Chuck Taylors onto his feet, barely grabbing his wallet and keys to Gaius's car on the way out.

"Make yourselves comfortable, you two! I'm gonna go see Sumia!"

"Oh, we will..." Cordelia smirked, glancing at Gaius knowingly. The former thief's eyes lit up and his grin turned feral.

"Don't you worry, Stahl. We'll keep your apartment nice'n sweet," Gaius continued, giving Cordelia a subtle wink.

"Just air it out when you two lovebirds are done..." Stahl grumbled, setting a can of Febreeze down onto the table. _Why am I letting them make the beast in my apartment? _Stahl thought, wondering to himself why he was so lenient as he ran out the door. Cordelia and Gaius burst out laughing.

"But seriously though. Are we gonna...?" Gaius asked, trailing off to let the unspoken do the speaking for him. Cordelia just nodded with a blush and a glint in her eye. "Whoo, honey, then let's get a taste of that sugar-sweet again."

Cordelia blushed as Gaius trailed his fingers over her thighs.

* * *

"He's, like, ten minutes late. Did something happen to him...?" Sumia wondered as she deployed a horde of Archers onto a Town Hall located in the corner of the map. "Although, looking at his hair, it's kinda easy to see how punctual he might be..."

The door to the cafe opened and the bell adorning the top jingled. A messy blob of brown streaked through the door, eyes searching frantically for Sumia. With one final jerk, his eyes locked onto hers, and he gave a small wave and a sheepish grin of apology. Stahl made his way over to her table and sat down across from her, the grin still plastered om his lips.

"My bad, Sumia..." Stahl mumbled, glancing away as he spoke. He took an interest in the passing cars flying by just outside the window in which they sat.

"Oh, you're all right," Sumia laughed, tucking her phone into her pocket- or at least tried to. Girls' pockets were a thing straight from Grima himself. They were nonexistent, forcing many women like Sumia to buy a handbag. Clever move, clothing industry. Clever move. "It's not like I had anything to do, anyway. I was just playing Clash of Clans and marveling at how bad I am at it..."

Stahl perked up at the mention of his favorite money-sucking-mobile-game. Luckily, he hadn't invested any money into it- yet. "What town hall level are you?"

Sumia was surprised at Stahl's reaction. "I didn't know you played this, too. I'm an 8," Sumia responded, mentally reprimanding herself for not leveling up her Barbarian King earlier.

"Sweet, I'm a 9," Stahl replied, pulling his Galaxy out of the phone and opening the game. "Before anything, though, max everything you can at town hall 8. You won't regret it. I know I forgot to max everything and that came back to bite my butt..."

"I was doing that until I forgot that I forgot to level up my King..."

"Then drop to Gold III or go to Crystal I," Stahl grinned, tapping his screen as he collected his resources. "Gold III, everyone has so much loot and not enough defense. In Crystal I, the league bonus from wrecking a town hall is more than enough. Sorta, depending on what resource you need."

"That's very tactical of you, Stahl," Sumia smiled, shifting in her seat. She was curious as to what this young man wanted to do with his life, as he probably was too. But before that, a little friendly on-the-surface conversation never hurt anyone.

"As a friend of mine says, 'A good tactician has nothing to fear.' Speaking of tactics, would you be interested in playing a game of chess? I'm no grandmaster at it like my friend Robin, but I'm no rookie either. Heh. Puns."

Sumia laughed. "I love puns, and chess. Sure! Do you have a board?" the clumsy young woman asked, glancing around as she tried to locate it.

"I keep a wooden set in my backpack. It's a little worn, but that's what I like about it. White or black?"

"Um... white. Reminds me to get a tan," Sumia chuckled, glancing at her pasty-white arms longingly.

"Haha. Me, too," Stahl grumbled, his skin tone nearly matching Sumia's. He scattered the white pieces over to Sumia's side and set up his own on his respective side. With a nod of his head, he motioned for Sumia to start.

"So what do you plan on doing with the rest of your life?" Sumia asked as she moved her pawn forward, tentatively.

"I plan to become a pharmaceutical drug manufacturer, so someone who formulates and concocts the drugs that people use to heal themselves. I'm working on a form of elixir that heals most minor flesh wounds within minutes of consuming. It seems like a lofty goal, yes, but it's actually possible. Just take my word for it," Stahl chuckled, moving his pawn out two spaces. "If I'm not mistaken, our ancestors had a medicine something like what I'm trying to make."

"Well, I bet you can do it." Sumia moved her bishop out into the open field. "That sounds so complicated. I wish my mind was that advanced."

"Meh. Anyone can do it, actually. All you need is a long time in school to memorize everything and nimble fingers."

"And that's where I back out of this conversation," Sumia laughed, eyeing Stahl as he moved his king up to where his pawn was before he moved it. "I have anything but nimble fingers."

"Well, it's mostly thanks to Cordelia teaching me how to play the harp. Before that, all I could so was hold a practice sword and swing it just like another run-of-the-mill ..." Stahl grumbled, noticing that Sumia positioned her bishop to put Stahl into check.

"Check."

Stahl placed his pawn in front of the king to shield it.

"I had no idea Cordelia taught you how to play the harp," Sumia mused, letting her fingers drift over the rook but finally settling on the knight. "She never mentioned you."

"You two best friends or something?" Stahl asked, taking his eyes off of the board and cocking his head.

"Yes, we've been friends for a long time. Ever since we started riding horses together, and that was about fifteen years ago," Sumia giggled, marveling at how long their friendship lasted against the test of time.

"I see."

From then on, no more words were said, as the duo began to concentrate more on chess and less on conversation. Eventually, when only a few pieces remained on the board, Stahl placed his knight in position to check Sumia's king.

"Check and mate," he said, grinning.

Sumia was baffled. He managed to sneak his lone knight past her queen and her rooks? There was more to this young man's brain than he let on, that was for sure. If he could formulate medicine and play a mean game of chess, then she knew his intelligence was somewhere up there, not down in the dumps where he claimed it was.

"Good goddess Naga above," Sumia mumbled, taking Stahl's knight and knocking her king over with it. It clattered hollowly. "You're very good at that."

"I learned everything by Robin. He can best me in an instant, and his wife's just as good."

"You speak very highly of this Robin. Who's he?"

"Well, a friend, mentor, and overall genius guy," Stahl replied, leaning back in his chair and glancing at his now-empty cup of coffee. "Want another? I'll buy," he offered, holding up his wallet.

"Eh, not right now. But an herbal tea sounds good. Anything, I guess." Sumia paused to clear her throat before continuing. He was very charming in his laid-back attitude; he wasn't even trying. At least, that's what she thought.

"Hey, um, Ricken?" Stahl called out to the young teen, loitering around by cleaning a table.

"What can I grab for you, sir?"

"An espresso and a surprise herbal tea, if that's all right," Stahl ordered, hoping he made the boy feel accomplished.

"I'll get right on it. One second," Ricken replied, scurrying off to the kitchen. As the door flapped open and closed, he caught a glimpse of his friend Cherche working in the kitchen and waved. She waved back with a small grin and handed Ricken what he needed to make the tea.

"Y'see, I could tell that that boy feels kind of insignificant, in his mind," Stahl blurted suddenly, startling Sumia.

"Where'd that come from? We aren't playing baseball, y'know." When Stahl didn't respond, she said, "Left field?"

"By reading his facial expression, he feels insignificant compared to the older workers here, like my friend Cherche."

"But how...?"

"Well, Cherche and I go back a-ways. She was an exchange student from a foreign country, but I helped her get settled in college, showed her around campus, and we've been friends ever since. I found that we both have a passion for cleaning, except laundry... that we both hate..." Stahl ended with a grumble, thinking of the time where he had to wash Vaike's smallclothes. Oh, gods, that was nasty.

Sumia bristled, but she didn't know why. "That's nice." She tried to avert her own emotions akin to a porcupine and onto something more pleasant. "But how did you know that Ricken was struggling?"

"Hey, I'm right here, ya know," the brown-haired-boy whined, holding a tray of steaming espresso and tea. "At least talk about me while I'm here."

Sumia blushed and Stahl scratched his neck sheepishly. "Um, yeah. Sorry about that. But you see..." Sumia trailed off, darting her eyes towards Stahl. "... he was talking about how he could tell that you lacked self-confidence."

"My what now?"

Stahl took an interest in the ceiling. "Well, I've been trained to examine someone's facial expression and make a logical guess based on how it looks..."

"And you thought I felt insignificant?"

"Sorry about that," Stahl replied, avoiding the question entirely. His face began to match a shade of crimson, like Cordelia's hair.

"Well, you're absolutely right..." Ricken mumbled. He couldn't believe he was talking about something personal to a random couple. At least, they seemed nice enough. Not to mention cute together.

"Again, I'm very sorry- er, what? Excuse me?" Stahl tripped over his words as the realization of what Ricken had just said hit him. "I was right?"

"Yeah... I feel that I can't do anything as well as anyone else. Everyone is so good at everything they do here and I just get left in the dust..." Ricken softly said, setting the tray down and pulling a chair out next to Stahl.

Stahl turned so he could face Ricken. "I have a question. Have you made any mistakes yet?"

"Besides showing up to work late on my fifth day, nope."

"Then you're fine," Stahl smiled, patting Ricken on the back.

Sumia began to realize why she'd begun fallen for his easygoing and carefree demeanor. It was because he'd hidden such a treasure trove of well-being and care for others under his friendly facade. Not to mention his face was handsome, his hair was adorable, and the way he spoke in his ever-changing tone plucked her heartstrings like Cordelia did to her harp.

And she'd only met him a few days ago.

Stahl continued talking. "You see, Ricken, if you haven't made any mistakes, then it just means that you carry a ton of potential. You're just adjusting to the workplace environment, so don't get down on yourself. Pretty soon, you'll be busing tables better than you can imagine! I guarantee it! And when that day comes, call me up and Sumia and I will come down and get your expert service. Sound like a plan?"

Ricken's eyes brightened and his mouth curled into a huge grin. "Thanks so much, Stahl. It means a lot hearing that from someone I... barely know," he laughed, standing up and grinning again. "But seriously. This'll definitely get me through the week."

"And remember," Sumia added, "Friendly service and a cute face are all it takes to get the fish in the sea to look at you," Sumia winked, definitely implying something. She'd noticed how he had his eye on Chrom's younger sister, who had yet to notice herself and Stahl sitting together in the cafe. "I'm talking about Lissa." Ricken blushed before gathering his bearings and shaking his redness away.

"Great, a doubly overly-perceptive couple," Ricken replied, rolling his eyes and sighing. "I'd best be getting back to work or Maribelle will chew me out." Maribelle was the owner of the "Taste of the Borderlines" and was proud to concoct imported Valmese tea each and every day.

"I'd bet she'd like you if you went up and introduced yourself!" Sumia called after him, leaving him to just shrug his shoulders as he walked away. However, when he was certain they weren't looking, he meandered over to Lissa's table and plastered a smile onto his face as he took her order. Stahl noticed a gleam in Lissa's eyes that wasn't normally there. And Stahl knew that her eyes always held a glint. That time when she stuffed a frog down Robin's shirt as he was walking in the door to pick up his children, Morgan and Nah, was proof enough of her eyes' glint.

"Yep, he's got her attention, that's for sure."

"Well, that was awfully nice of you to give him the strength to get through the week," Sumia smiled, heart warming as she kept thinking about what Stahl had done.

"Meh. It's nothing phenomenal. I mean, I'd want to be encouraged if I was down, too," the messy-haired-man replied, shrugging his shoulders with a lopsided grin.

"But don't you see, Stahl? No one does that, apparently! He's been down for Naga knows how long now! And you came along and cheered him up! That means that you've got something special in your heart that most others don't have! Stahl..." Sumia whispered, letting her voice trail off. "That's another phenomenal thing about your personality. You're so oblivious to all the good you do. It's the epitaph of humble. You're so one-sided, in a good way, so much that you almost downgrade yourself with the excuse that you ' just wanna help out,' or 'anyone would do it.'"

"Sumia..."

"Stahl, your heart is just... too big for your own good. Think about yourself for a change. Surely there must be something that you've neglected in yourself in lieu of someone else's needs?"

"Well, my friend Donnel likes to learn swordsmanship under my tutelage, so I replaced my free time with him," Stahl shrugged, acting like it was no big deal.

"See? And you told me that your schedule is packed as is! You need to help yourself once in a while... just help others somewhat more. But please, for your own well-being, spend some 'Stahl' time. Even though I've only been around you for a few days, I know that some part of your smile is fake, but I can't place it."

Stahl exhaled heavily, letting the fake excitement fade from his eyes. "You got me there, Sumia. I'm worn out, and I'd kill monsters in another realm just to get some mid-day shut-eye. Or maybe some food. Hey, speaking of dinner..." Stahl said, glancing at his Galaxy to check the time. "Want to eat out with me? My treat. And then we can talk about this a little more."

"But.. you just said you're exhausted."

"I don't feel the need to be cheerful Stahl around you for some weird reason. It's like a tie that binds, for some reason. Hard to place in words, specifically. I can just be... normal. Like without a facade. It's nice, really."

"That's... how I feel, too, and it's kind of awkward to say it, but I don't really know what my facade is. My clumsiness is anything but a sham..."

"Heh. Well, you have a specific place you like to frequent?" Stahl asked, tilting his head and smiling. He began to stuff the chess board back into his backpack as she thought.

"Hm... Well, I kind of like home cooking. Are you a good chef?"

"Eh, I'm nothing special. But I would like to try the world's best food just once..." Stahl replied, making daydream motions with his eyes. "Mmm... pasta..."

"Since you love eating food it's safe to assume that you know how to make food, too. I'm not like that... I can't cook for the life of me..."

"Well, I'll teach you. It's nothing too hard, actually. Anyone could do it," Stahl shrugged, downgrading himself in the process.

"Oh, don't say that. You're talented enough, so stop putting yourself down." Sumia was rather fed up with his everyone-is-better-than-I-am attitude. Her voice rose a little as she spoke, earned her an eyebrow-raise from Stahl who wasn't expecting the action.

"Gee, uh, thanks, Sumia. No one really notices my feats, so it's nice to be looked at without that 'totally average guy' viewpoint." Without warning, Stahl glanced at his watch. "Sumia, I'm really sorry, but I have a job interview at Applebee's in a half hour and I gotta get ready. As much as I'd like to wear my outfit I have on now, you gotta dress to impress, as they say."

"No problem, Stahl. Hey, we should at least exchange numbers so meeting up will be easier in the future. We are meeting up, right...?" Sumia asked hesitantly, desperately hoping he'd say yes.

"Of course!" Stahl exclaimed, pulling out his phone and handing it to Sumia, while making the 'gimme' motion with his other hand. "We'll punch in each other's numbers and go from there, okay?"

"Sounds delightful," Sumia replied, pulling out her iPhone and handing it to Stahl while taking his Galaxy and punching in her name as 'Stumbles.' Gaius had always called her that ever since she tripped in front of him in the high school hallway, and the name just stuck. Eventually, most of her friends started to call her Stumbles in good humor.

"Well..." Stahl droned off while staring out the window. "I better get going." He stood from his chair and slid her phone across the table back to her. Shortly after he stood up, Ricken came around to collect the cash Stahl left for their drinks. After thoroughly tipping the young boy, Stahl waved goodbye to Sumia one last time and headed out the door.

Sumia looked in her contacts list.

There was a new name.

"Totally Average Guy"

Sumia smiled. Her heart was doing trippy things to her. It clouded her judgement and skewered her commitment of staying single ever since... that. It made her feel like she and Stahl had... a chance. But for now, she'd bide her time as aspiring friends. And, honestly speaking, it probably wouldn't even get anywhere further than friends. Their next meeting, whenever fate dictated it, would be strictly un-romantic; as a simple get-together between friends.

Maybe more.

* * *

**AN: Hope you enjoyed! Drop a review and like, follow and favorite! Thanks so much!**

**~The Slain Executioner~**


	3. Work

**AN: Sorry for the long delay! I have Fire Emblem, Youtube, Death Parade (The absolute best 12 episode anime ever), Smash Bros, and girlfriend. :) Yeah, my best friend and I recently crossed the barrier of 'bestfriendhood' into 'relationship goals af' according to another friend. So I've been busy, and while I update this during a final, I have to say what's school? Studying? Ah, who needs those? When I have great readers like you guys who needs it? Well, it's super easy to maintain a high GPA anyways. :P Anyway, onto the review responses! **

**GPuzzle: I have to disagree. While he's far from bad, he's far from good. His level ups have only given me like 2 6+ stats, and everything else is done by better Assassins that I have. As he claims, not the best, not the worst. But his high strength makes him a good Assassin for me with Speed/avoid boosts from his wife Panne. However, I think Gaius does it better, as the only other candidate I have right now is MU and Lon'qu, and I have Lon'qu as a Swordmaster. Next playthrough I'm gonna try Sniper Stahl (to finish) with a fast/strong strength boosts waifu. Cherche, maybe? Or Olivia? But thanks for reviewing, and I figured that it'd be better if I had him study how to read faces. (Ever play LA Noire? And no it's not a play off of Tharja's kin.) **

**Smileplease: We're not done yet! **

**~Chrom 2013, 14, and 15 **

**Anyway, it's not done for another chapter after this one. :) Well, I figured that Gaius is the subtle flirt who... got busy in high school. So I figured why not give him an upright knight and call it good? :P There should be a tiny mention of Ricken and Lissa, but not much more than that, since next chapter will deal with the feels. *Puts on goggles* **

**EchoMoonHuntress: I love Stahl and Sumia, too, so it's nice to read my own story. :3 Actually, it's not... thanks for reading!**

**Triple: The former two questions will answer themselves. However, I feel that Anna wouldn't own the restaurant, but rather work as a do-all manager. I can see why you'd think that the strategian wouldn't fight, I mean there's a few examples in movies+other games, but this one's different. He/She's a do-all badass who is everything. :P One reason the MU is a favorite of mine is because he/she produces Morgan. In seriousness, I like how the MU can have a unique blend of skills for any playstyle. For example, I'm going to arrange a Astra/Lethality/Galeforce/Lifetaker/Aether Sniper/Assassin Morgan. (Assuming I have M!MU and Lucina as mom.) Due to Morgan's skill inheritance from MU and Lucina, and the high caps of the Assassin and Sniper, I think it'll be an interesting build. And MU currently isn't anywhere my most powerful unit. I've been grinding my team so much I haven't even finished the game yet xD I have her as a Swordmaster right now. Sumia's a Great Knight and Stahl's an Assassin. :)  
I tried to fit characters into jobs that they'd be natural in. And don;t worry, in due time Sumia's background will be revealed. The dream just is a subtle reference to the game they hail from. In essence, it's what they do in Awakening. xD So the dream is just a little easter egg. Stahl's friends come and go, and I explain one in this chapter. So don't worry. You just have to spot where I mention him. ;) **

**Whew! With that out of the way, here's chapter 3. :) **

* * *

Three weeks had passed since she last heard from Stahl. Sumia, being the anxious person she always was, turned to flower fortunes to help her satiate her nerves. She truly found comfort in the act, but Cordelia found it ridiculous. The redhead had stated that 'we carve our own fate, destiny, and future, not some piddly flora that anyone could stumble across!' Then, Cordelia quickly apologized for possibly misusing Sumia's nickname.

In this timespan, however, she managed to snag a job working at a ranch of all places. She tended to the livestock, be it horses, chickens, or even donkeys. Either way, she loved the job, and the owner, Panne, was all too grateful to let Sumia work for her. Panne seemed to have a natural connection with animals, along with Sumia.

Sumia liked animals. They didn't judge her for what had happened to her, didn't talk back, and always listened when you needed to talk. At some point, animals had replaced her friends entirely, leaving her to her own devices to communicate with illiterate beasts instead. However, she had been happy, and that was all that mattered to her. Thankfully, she'd met her best friend Cordelia shortly afterward, letting her vent to the unjudging redhead with unabashed freedom, helping to ease her soul quite a bit.

However, her soul was already torn from the bullying she'd endured in high school. Then it had to get worse when... it happened. And for some reason, the memories came rushing back today of all days. This didn't go unnoticed by Panne, who was working with her at the time. The older woman inquired what was wrong; however, she was met with a practiced and calculated response.

"Oh, Panne, thanks for asking, but I'm totally fine. I just didn't have enough coffee this morning," Sumia forcibly chuckled, eliciting a deeper frown from Panne.

"Sumia. I can tell when you're distressed. Now, tell me, what is troubling you so? You know me," Panne dryly laughed, "you can trust me to keep a secret."

"Panne... can I just say it's personal?" Sumia asked quietly, looking down at her fingers and clasping them together as she spoke. All of a sudden she felt very small in comparison to the more intimidating woman she gazed at Sumia.

Panne nodded. "Of course, Sumia. I apologize for asking." She turned back to tending to a cage of rabbits, who were scrambling to eat their fill of the food Panne had deposited into their dishes. For some odd reason, Panne took better care of the rabbits than any other animals. This was not to say that she neglected the needs of the other animals; she just seemed to take better care of the animals in Sumia's eyes.

"It's okay, Panne. You were only worried," Sumia hastily replied, hoping she didn't hurt her boss's feelings.

"Still, I am rather curious. If you ever feel the need to talk, you know where to find me. Please don't hesitate if you feel like you need to talk about it."

The clumsy brunette nodded. "Of course, Panne. I'll do that."

Panne smiled in response, a sight Sumia rarely got to see. Her day just got a little better.

* * *

"Hey there, my name's Stahl and I'll be your wai- er, oh, hi, Chrom and Olivia! What can I get for you?"

The blue-haired daycare leader smiled in response. "I didn't know you worked here, Stahl. It's good to see you."

"How fare you, Stahl?" Olivia asked. Ever since she married Chrom, she liked to dodge around her comfort zone in how she spoke. This time, it was how her ancestors used to speak.

"I fare quite well, milady, quite," Stahl replied with a smirk. "And Lord Chrom, it is always a pleasure to be graced by your presence as well," Stahl smirked, humoring the couple in their little royalty-speech game. "Would milady and milord care for a drink whilst the food is being prepared?"

"Red wine for me," Chrom stated, watching Stahl as he scribbled.

"Specific preference?"

"Surprise me."

"Will do, Chrom! Anything for you, Olivia?"

"Water's fine for now, I guess. Thanks."

"I'll be right back with your drinks. I'll take your order then," the messy-haired-man replied, walking away to pop the cork on his favorite red wine. After snatching a water glass for Olivia, and a wine glass for Chrom, he made his way back to the table where his part-time superiors sat. He set the tray of wine and water on the portable tray that all waiters carried around and gently poured the wine into the glass. With a spinning flourish, he handed the glass to Chrom. With his other hand, he gently set Olivia's water glass onto the table beside her arm.

"Thanks, Stahl."

"No problem. Can I get your guys' orders?" Stahl asked, retrieving his notebook. He flashed another smile at Chrom and Olivia. His smile alone and messy hair were enough to earn ample tips from the females that were around his age. If Olivia hadn't fallen for Chrom, she would have surely pursued Stahl anonymous letters and hints, for she was too shy to approach anyone with coherent sentences... that were verbal.

After their order, Stahl went back to relay the order to the chef on duty, Frederick, who always loved to cook on open-fire stoves, open-fire ovens, and open-fire anything. Stahl had actually learned many of the culinary tips from his mentor, Frederick, who taught him everything he knew. Sully had also tried to learn, but she ended up being able to burn water and not much else. Instead, she was more physically able than he was. Stahl considered it a fair trade, though the both of them found themselves wishing they had the other's talents once in a while. Nevertheless, they made a great team.

Stahl let his thoughts wander as he made his way back to Chrom and Olivia's table.

_Man, it's been a while since I last played Smash Bros. Kellam and I need to have a one-on-one. _Kellam was Stahl's long-time friend, although he'd never been noticed by nearly anyone. As such, he dedicated his time to playing video games, using the Internet, and working out. The two made an interesting pair, but Stahl stood out the most throughout the years they'd been friends. After all, Kellam liked to joke that he'd be a one-man-army if he joined the military, since no one seemed to be able to spot him except for Stahl and his good friend, Cherche.

_Since when did Chrom get a haircut? _The man's bangs were slightly shorter and neater. _Good thing, too, _Stahl thought, envisioning another guy with hair like his. He shuddered.

_I wonder where Sumia is now in life? _

_Sumia? _

In truth, it had been a while since he last saw her. His schedule was so busy, and Sumia was frantically searching a for a job. With a smile, he silently hoped that she hadn't locked her keys inside her car recently. With a sudden realization, the idea that he missed her- a lot- fell upon him. After a few seconds of contemplation, he shook the thoughts out of his head and tuned his mind back into the game of work. Though, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he needed to meet with her- and soon.

After the couple had their food delivered by Stahl, and exchanging a few more words of lighthearted conversation, Stahl was assigned to a lone table; the one where there was only one chair. To his surprise, he saw a familiar patch of brunette hair with swirled pigtails at the end. His eyes lit up as he realized who it was. However, they quickly darkened once they saw the expression plastered on Sumia's face.

One of distressed emotion and sadness.

"Sumia! Hey, Sumia!" Stahl called out, worry beginning to make itself evident upon his own face.

She slowly lifted her gaze to meet his. Without any warning, she abruptly stood from her chair and stood before him, quivering with an unknown emotion to Stahl. Thankfully, the restaurant was nearly empty, save for Chrom and Olivia, and a few other regulars that he'd familiarized himself with. If it was crowded, he'd break out into a blush, for this kind of thing embarrassed him quite a bit. Something he never learned was how to handle an emotional woman.

And now he was presented with one.

_Here goes nothing... _He thought. He hoped he wasn't making the wrong move. He smiled. It was a genuine smile. "Hey, Sumia. Look at me." Even though the both of them already knew she was staring right into his eyes, he decided that it would be best to repeat himself for emphasis.

"What's wrong?"

Sumia swallowed loudly. It was an audible suppression of emotions, one in which she succeeded in putting down. Eyes shaking and lip quivering, she took in a shaky breath and let it all out. With her eyes closed, she calmed herself until she showed no signs of emotion. Eventually, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Stahl once again, this time with a small smile.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Stah just looked at her with the _are you frickin' kidding me _face.

"It's really nothing you need to be concerned about."

Stahl sighed and placed his notebook down. He looked at Sumia again before pacing back and forth. "Y'know, it's easy to tell when there's something distressing you. And it's not lack of caffeine," he chuckled, pointing to himself. "I never have enough caffeine. Believe me, I know what that looks like; I see it in the mirror every single day."

Sumia giggled softly. There was sad undertone flowing through it, which made Stahl even more curious. "Stahl... I want to tell you. But... it's weird, you know? I feel like I just met you, but we've known each other for a while. We've only met twice- er, three times now. So it just kinda feels weird to be telling you an emotional problem, you know? Can we... wait a bit longer?"

"So long as you eventually tell me," Stahl smiled, picking up his notebook once again. "Now that I can see that you're feeling a bit better..."

Sumia blushed.

"... er, are you okay? You sick?"

"N-no, just a bit w-warm. Could I just get a Sprite? It helps calm my nerves." Sumia scratched at the nape of her neck as she looked away from the lopsided, confused face staring back at her. Hopefully this handsome piece of work would leave her vision for a bit, letting the bubbles calm her blush.

* * *

Gods, he was so oblivious! He claimed he could read people's emotions... however, he was severely lacking in one department; attraction! He was about as observant as a sniper without his vision to aid him! She found it cute, but that just added to the attraction she felt for him. So long as she was sure it was attraction, she had no qualms. After all, attraction fades after a while. She just didn't want to deal with... love. Love led to... other things that usually ended in heartbreak, along with other things. Maybe her view of love was skewered. But as one subjected to horrible experiences, no one could rightfully judge her unless they endured the same hardship that she endured earlier in life.

"One Sprite, coming right up."

"Th-thanks, Stahl."

She placed a tentative hand over her chest and tried to will her heart to slow down. After a few second of her practiced technique, it worked, and she found herself breathing normally, thinking normally, and acting normally. Even her face had calmed down.

But... he'd gotten a job here? Where she was recently fired? Funny how life worked. Hopefully Applebee's was working out for him better than it did for her. Considering how smooth he usually moved and acted, she doubted he had any issues with clumsiness. Sumia sighed. With all her heart, she wished she was quick and nimble on her feet. Oh, sure, if the moment came down to it (namely adrenaline) she was nimble. But it's not like she'd ever have the opportunity to fight eldritch monsters and trigger her adrenaline rush.

"One Sprite, on me."

"Hunh? Oh! Thanks so much, Stahl! That's real nice of you!" Sumia gushed, touched by his sweet little action that saved her a dollar forty-nine. She sipped at the fizzy liquid, relishing the taste.

"So, I get to bug you. My manager, Anna, told me to take the rest of the day off. So how have you been?" Stahl asked, never breaking eye contact while pulling the chair out with his foot and stylishly sliding into it. He flicked his hair out of his eyes; it was getting long, with his bangs drooping into his face. He flashed her one of his killer smiles, making her heart do unfair things to her.

And the worst part?

He wasn't even the slightest bit aware.

"Well, I found a job working at 'The Warren.' It's essentially a ranch where animals are raised for food or profit. I just tend to the animals and make sure they're happy, but I especially love the horses. Other than that... not much is new. But hey! I see you got my position!" Sumia laughed, giving him a wink and a thumbs-up. "Trip yet?"

He burst out laughing. "No, no, not yet. But working on a ranch?! That's just up your alley!"

"I guess it is. The one thing I'm good at," Sumia mumbled, shrugging her shoulders and taking another sip of Sprite.

"Hey, now, take your own advice with a grain of salt. Remember?" Stahl commanded. She tilted her head, unsure of what to make of this statement. Then it hit her.

"My.. own advice?"

"Yeah. You told me to stop degrading myself and hold a bit more confidence. I've tried doing that for your sake, and it's worked out decently as of late. So, do your friend Stahl a favor and take your own advice." Stahl simply sat back in his chair and looked at her with a 'please' look in his eyes.

"But... unlike you, I don't really have anything to hold confidence in."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh... what I said?"

He sighed; placing his head in his hands. "Are you truly not seeing what I see?"

"Um... no?" Sumia shifted in her seat. His mysterious aspect to the way he was speaking made her nervous. "_What's he trying to accomplish?" s_he thought.

"You're kind. You refuse to let someone walk by who's hurting. You have a good heart. You're friendly. You've got a gift for animals. These are just a few that are blatantly obvious. I know there's more inside you, you and I just haven't discovered them yet."

"I haven't discovered what's inside me?"

"Yeah. You know, the best advice is sometimes your own advice. Same thing can apply here, I guess, like sometimes you can only see the bad in yourself, when others can see the blatant good."

"That... makes a lot of sense," Sumia replied, scratching her head and playing with her brunette locks. She shyly glanced down towards the table, as meeting the handsome young man's eyes would cause a furious blush to creep across her pale features.

"So put it to use, and see what good you can see in yourself- alongside others," Stahl replied with a grin. "Also..." The brunette man scratched his neck as it started to heat up, showing a trace of redness.

"Yes, Stahl? What is it?"

"I've... been meaning to ask you something for a while, I just haven't had the chance to. Er, more like haven't. Period."

"Hm?"

"Sumia..." Stahl stammered, tripping over his own words. This was not something Stahl often did, unless nervous or flustered. "I know it may seem wrong to some, and even though it may not be destiny, would you go out with me?"

Sumia couldn't speak for a moment. Stahl asked her out... finally. She'd been waiting for this day for the longest time; she silently prayed that he'd ask one day. Now, her prayers had been answered. All she had to do was say yes. Or even merely nod. However, her body refused to move or make a sound, so she just sat there awkwardly, staring at him. Despite her raging conscience to say no, the desirable response- for herself and Stahl- was fluttering around the tip of her tongue.

"..."

Finally, Sumia got a grip of her tongue and managed to speak. "Of course I would, Stahl! I'd been hoping you'd ask for the longest time!"

Stah let out a huge sigh of relief. "Whew... I kinda thought you'd say no."

"Why's that?"

"Well, it seems like you had a bad experience with guys in the past and I wasn't sure if you'd go out with me."

"Stahl... about that. Can we talk about that on our date? I want to tell you now; this might be what I need to help heal my scars."

"Sumia, scars are just a mark of battle. It means you've survived a test; triumphed over tribulation. In my eyes, it's a sign of strength. So don't try to erase the scars, instead, embrace them. I mean, most scars are unique and tell a different story, even if they're physical rather than emotional."

"That's an interesting outlook, Stahl. How'd you develop it?"

"Well, after I fell off my bike one day, I nearly lost all control over my body. I was threatened to be a quadriplegic my entire life. But I survived it! And even though I have a scar on my neck, it shows that I survived the crisis and lived to tell the tale to people like you. So it's a sign of strength and iron-will. At least, it is to me."

"I think I may have to adopt this logic of yours," Sumia jokingly stated, winking at Stahl, who blushed. "Stahl...?"

"That's... really cute," Stahl whispered, looking out the window and pretending to count cars that passed by.

"Cute...!" Sumia gasped, blushing in response as well. Eventually, the both of them sat there like an awkward couple who didn't know what to say or when to say it. Sumia was the one to break the silence, as she shook her head and smiled with thanksgiving.

"Well, you stopped me in my tracks the very first time I saw you. Then, when I waved for you, I'd locked my keys inside my car." Sumia chuckled as she reminisced to the moment where she made the blunder in front of the then-stranger Stahl. The lyrics to a song came rushing to her brain as she spoke. They seemed oddly familiar... but Sumia simply couldn't place it.

"It was rather fantastic, that's all I can say," Stahl laughed, the blush disappearing from his cheeks.

"No, it wasn't! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?"

"Nope."

"Exactly!"

"But I do know how hilarious it was to watch."

"STAHL!"

Sumia rested her elbows on the table and stared Stahl down. "Fine, then. When can we meet for this date you promised me?"

"I'm free this weekend, if that's cool with you?" Stahl responded, throwing a thumbs-up towards his to-be-girlfriend.

"I'll check my schedule and get back to you. Right now, I gotta go pick Cynthia up from day care," Sumia said, glancing at her phone as she stuffed it into her purse. Once again, she smiled at her future date as she stood. "Thanks again for everything, Stahl."

Stahl dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "No problem! Just doing what a good- er, you didn't like that the last time I said something like that. So I'll just say 'You're welcome' and call it quits from there." He paused. "Actually, I want to come get Cynthia with you. She absolutely adores me," he claimed, shrugging his shoulders. "Okay if I come?"

She laughed, and the sound was music to his ears.

His grin in response to her laugh was candy to her eyes.

Even though this blossoming love had started off as friends, and may have been unforseen by the gods, in their names Stahl and Sumia would try their damnedest to make this relationship work out.

No longer as friends, but definitely more.

* * *

**AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Leave a favorite, review, and follow! It helps a lot!**

**~The Slain Executioner **


	4. Past and Present

**AN: SO SORRY FOR THE UPLOAD GAP. I've had writer's block, work, Smash Bros, and writer's block... gods! It's the worst case yet! Dr. Mario should prescribe me something to get rid of this atrocity!**

**Anyway, Lyrics will have five chapters- this being the fourth. I figured that splitting the chapters up would be better so you guys have content to read as I finish working out the kinks in the last chapter. Sumia's backstory will be revealed next chapter, I PROMISE! :'( **

**Hey! you should totally check out my Youtube! It's under the name of "Osoji Nosferatu" and I may find myself changing my FF name to that in time. What do you think of that? Let me know! **

**Without further ado, please enjoy chapter 4 of Lyrics. :) **

Hardly romantic, but charming.

Hardly elegant, but adorable.

Those were the words uttered by the waiters at Olive Garden as they observed Stahl and Sumia eating together. Their methods of observation were not creepy, per se, but it definitely could have come off as stalker-ish.

"Gosh, I reckon that that's the cutest couple I'da ever seen in ma whole life!" Donnel exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips and examining Stahl stealing a bite of Sumia's chicken alfredo.

"Yes, they are kinda cute together," Kellam exclaimed, peeking over his shoulder as he washed the dishes. "Betcha I could walk over there and stare at them right next to them and they'd never notice."

"Oh, I don't know 'bout that, Kell. Stahl seems to notice you more'n'often than others," Donnel replied, wiping down a table to make it look like he was busy.

"At least the interviewer was able to see me when I applied for the job..." Kellam mumbled shaking his head. "I wonder if what I have is a genetic problem or something."

"Don't talk science, Kellam," Donnel sighed, shaking his head. "Y'know I couldn't make heads'r'tails of it." Kellam knew this all too well, as Cherche had to tutor Donnel to help him get his chemistry grade up. However, Donnel was one of the brightest when it came to history.

"All I said was genetics! How is that 'talking science?'" Kellam exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Just... no."

"All right, then."

The two turned back to their work and were soon lost in their task. However, the antics of Stahl and Sumia kept drawing their attention back to the couple's table. Sumia's gleeful laughter and Stahl's musical chuckle always managed to draw an eye of the patrons within the restaurant, as they were relatively loud, but hardly disturbing to the general peace. In fact, even some of the elderly couples shook their heads and grinned in appreciation.

"... then I figured, 'hey, if people don't treat me very well, then I think I should find something that does.' Thus, my friendship with animals was born," Sumia explained, resting her chin in her hands as she stared at Stahl.

Stahl eventually noticed. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just admiring your handsome features. I particularly like that dimple you have right..." Sumia leaned over the table as she spoke. "... there," she giggled as she poked his cheek.

"Meh, I was teased for those, actually."

"WHAT?" Sumia blurted, taken aback that someone would dare insult her man's cutest features. She almost spilled her drink.

"Yeah, back in elementary. Then when I started to say something about it, they began beating me up physically. Then I started taking self-defense from Frederick, who whipped me into shape- quite literally."

Sumia giggled. "Oh, so you're into that kind of stuff, huh?"

"What? …" Stahl paused, and stared blank-faced at Sumia, genuinely not getting it. "Oh... you dirty minded brat," Stahl mumbled as his face lit up from realization and embarrassment.

"Hehe. Just a part of getting to know me," Sumia replied with a wink. Oh, did she have some interesting fantasies lined up for use in that head of hers. One that had been particularly nonbelligerent was one involving Stahl and Sumia, along with harnesses and... colorful speech. She'd tried to suppress it, but lately it kept making its way to the surface, much to her dismay- and pleasure, in specific cases...

"Oh, boy," Stahl mumbled playfully. He took a sip of his beverage and leaned back in the chair. "Oh, yeah, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Well... I think that's better done in a place not public..." Sumia softly said, looking towards the table as she spoke. Her voice instantly became more solemn and her demeanor changed significantly.

Stahl noticed, of course. "Uh... how about my place? It's just a couple miles from here." Stahl coughed and motioned for Donnel to come and deliver the bill. The country boy walked over with a grin on his face and managed to brighten up the mood with his usual self, which comforted Sumia quite a lot. The rare occurrence of someone performing a random act of kindness always helped to alleviate her feelings of angst whenever she felt them in her loneliest hours. That reminded Sumia of one of her favorite albums, but she figured that she shouldn't be thinking about music at this particular moment.

"So I see Stahl here's gonna fit the bill for both'a ya," Donnel smiled. He set the payment book on the table for Stahl to slide his cash or card in. "Enjoy the cooking?"

"Oh, you know it," Stahl replied, sighing and sliding back into his chair. With a slight slouch, he peered up at his country friend. "How is pasta so amazing?"

"Beats me. I can't cook worth horse feathers. I'm just a waiter, so I guess I'll never know," Donnel replied dejectedly, slumping his shoulders in mock disappointment.

"Oh, that's okay, Donny," Sumia laughed. "If you were imprisoned in the kitchen all the time, you wouldn't get to charm all the ladies with your accent." She giggled when Donnel's face gave away the slightest traces of a blush creeping up his neck.

"Gee, uh, thanks, miss Sumia," was all Donnel said as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. With great haste, he gathered up Stahl's cash and hurried back to the register.

"Try not to burn the food on your way out!" Stahl called with a huge grin on his face after him, mocking the country boy's inexperience with the opposite sex. A few diners in the general vicinity noticed and either laughed with Stahl, for they had overseen/heard the whole ordeal, or they grumbled and turned back to their meal.

"You two seem pretty close," Sumia observed as they stood up and slid their chairs in.

"We are. Like I said, I train with him. I'm more of his teacher than anything, but eh, whatever."

"I feel like you mentioned this once before..." Sumia mumbled.

"Probably did. Oh well. Shall we be off?" Stahl asked, sweeping his hands towards the door in a very Stahl-esque manner. Finally, he seemed to catch onto the fact that Sumia really liked his wink and subtle hair flips, so he did just that as his hand reached peak of its sweep.

Sumia tried not to notice too greatly as his charming features once again stole her heart. She reminded herself that she'd fallen for this piece of eye-candy for more than just his cute, boyish looks. He had a good heart and an even better mind. And body, if 'training' emphasized working out, which she assumed it did.

As Stahl held the door open for Sumia, he couldn't help but catch an eyeful of her hindquarters. From the looks of it, he thought, she made an effort to keep in shape. He wondered what else she was hiding underneath her everyday garments. Then, he shook his head to clear his mind of the dirty thoughts flooding his head. It worked for a second- and literally, ONE SECOND, until his brain led him back into fantasy.

Who could blame him? After all, Sumia's figure was Stahl's favorite figure on a girl. Lean, muscular, with a small-ish bust. While his friends all through high school had preferred the larger boingy bits (Courtesy of his friend Nowi naming them that, as she had the figure of a young girl but the vim and vigor of a dragon) Stahl had preferred... he lacked other words to describe it except for Sumia's figure.

_Not to mention she has a wonderful, caring nature and compassionate soul, _he reminded himself, knowing that the exterior was just the first step in discovering someone's secrets.

_That's what I'm going to find out soon, _Stahl said to himself as he lowered himself into the driver's seat of his '02 Civic. The young man couldn't help but to feel a little nervous, and a good amount of pressure. Would he live up to the expectation of himself and Sumia?_ Most importantly, hers, _he thought as he backed out of his parking space.

"So, Sumia, how did you develop your love for animals?" he asked, hoping to ease his pressure. He didn't know if she was feeling any, but he hoped to the gods that she was. That way, if he messed up somehow, they could laugh together about it.

"That kinda ties into my story, but I was sort of a loner. So I turned to animals to keep me company, and to this day they're still my best friends." Sumia leaned back in her seat as she spoke, and a distant smile crept onto her face.

"You asked that already, Stahl."

"Did I?!"

"Yeah," she chuckled.

He didn't know how or why, but Stahl knew it was a smile with sadness lingering behind it. After all, a smile didn't have to tell someone joy.

"Uh huh," Stahl replied. "Whoa! Stay in your own lane, stupid!" Stahl exclaimed, jerking the wheel to avoid a blue blur speeding past them on a motorcycle. "That's the fastest thing I've ever seen." Sumia's neck followed the quick motion of the car changing directions.

"Ah!"

"You okay?"

"Yeah... my neck's just tense. That sorta threw it out of its comfort zone," she chuckled, rubbing the side away from Stahl.

"You stressed out?" Stahl responded, settling back into his own lane. He looked over at Sumia who was still holding her neck. She turned to him as she began to rub it slowly.

"How... how did you know?"

"Psychology," Stahl shrugged. "You either slept on your neck wrong or you're stressed out beyond belief."

"You're right..." Sumia mumbled. "You're too perceptive, Stahl."

"Lissa actually taught me how to give a pretty good neck massage. The only I reason I remember that is because I was there when she stuffed a frog down Robin's shirt when he came to pick up Morgan and Nah from daycare, and she used a neck massage to trick him. I could work out the knots while you tell me your story at my apartment. Sound okay?" Stahl asked, looking over at Sumia and smiling.

Sumia groaned and pressed her body further into the bucket seat of Stahl's car. "That sounds amazing, Stahl." With a glint in her eye and a chuckle on her lips, she turned to him and grinned. "Now I have something to tell you about massages."

"What's that?" Stahl asked, tilting his head but keeping his eyes on the road. Hopefully there weren't any other crazy motorists moving at the seemingly-speed of sound down this road. Well, once they crashed, they'd live and learn- if they lived. Stahl was all for motorcycles, but he'd never ride one regularly.

"Would you know the difference between a massage therapist and a masseuse?"

"Nope!" Stahl replied cheerfully, not expecting the response that Sumia had in her arsenal.

"A massage therapist focuses on using technique to ease tired muscles and free up the stress in your joints. A masseuse, well... let's just say he or she leaves you feeling happy at the very end." Sumia added a not-so-subtle "If you know what I mean" at the end of her statement.

"Uh..." Stahl stuttered, not knowing where to take the conversation from here. "I can assure you I'm the first one, if at all. I mean I am definitely the first one, but I'm not a qualified masseuse- er, I mean massage therapist in any way," Stahl tripped over his words. "Boy... that came out horribly wrong."

"It did," Sumia laughed, cheerfully placing her hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, Stahl. I know what _you_ mean, and I trust you. Okay?"

"Okay," he responded, somewhat hesitantly. Sumia was now beginning to show her playful side, which included an... interesting mindset. At the very least, he figured, she was opening up to him. And knowing that she'd been through a lot, (Albeit not knowing what that 'lot' was) he considered himself privileged to be close enough to Sumia so that she'd share her personal stories with him.

Stahl didn't really have any deep, personal stories. He was just... average. Nothing traumatic or psychologically difficult really happened in his life. However, he had plenty of friends who struggled day-to-day in his scholarly years, which kind of let him get experienced in comforting those in a time of trial. An uncomfortable feeling began to lodge these thoughts in his head, and he felt the need to inform Sumia before things got emotional... if they did.

"Hey, Mia?"

"Mia?"

The long-haired young man shrugged. "It seemed fitting, so I said it."

"I... actually like it," Sumia laughed. "I usually hate it when people nickname me, like Gaius calling me 'Stumbles,' but Mia... I can live with Mia," Sumia dramatically sighed, shooting Stahl a sideways-wink.

"Good. Hey, uh, I should probably tell you that I don't really have any deep or impactful life stories in my arsenal."

She sighed. "Stahl, what impacts people, really?" Sumia asked, turning her head to look at Stahl driving.

"Huh?"

"Does the person's actions or the person's stories impact others?"

"I guess the actions."

"Yeah, and I'm a living witness to that. So don't worry. You existing, here in the now, has impacted me more than you can ever begin to imagine. Not your stories, although I definitely enjoy them, don't even think otherwise," Sumia explained, turning her head back to staring at the airbag-holder as a blush crept up her neck. Thankfully, her long, brunette curls hid the crimson stain of emotion.

"Wow... I've never though of myself as impactful. I guess it's because I was focusing on how I haven't done anything super extraordinary... at least, on the surface, like fighting eldritch monsters and serving under a great lord and his tactician or something like that. But the present... is what we live in," Stahl exclaimed, waving one hand to emphasize his statement. "And what I do in the present is what people know me for, so... I guess it's okay to assume that people can impact others with their past, or their actions in the now, or both. Deep thoughts, huh? And we haven't even gotten to my apartment yet!" Stahl laughed, turning a corner onto an exit ramp that led into a quiet little neighborhood.

Cedar and oak were prevalent; it was a quaint, modern little city with a small amount of crime that was generally peaceful.

Stahl loved living here. After all, his landlord, Anna, liked him and he got discounted rates on his apartment. His thoughts were interrupted with the sound of OMI's "Cheerleader" coming on the radio. Sumia had turned the device on, hoping to alleviate the silence with some music.

"Gods, Stahl, I love this song!"

"Uh... oh! This one! It's catchy, with a bit of house-music influence mixed in," Stahl replied once the chorus hit.

"House music?"

"Er... I'll explain later," he chuckled, not wanting to lose himself in a long, drawn-out explanation of the differences of electronic music.

Sumia just shook her head, smiled, and began to sing along with the radio.

_Oh, I think that I've found myself a cheerleader_

_She is always right there when I need her _

_Oh, I think that I've found myself a cheerleader_

_She is always right there when I need her _

"Pretty cool message, I like how the music today is becoming more positive towards a one-on-one relationship in lieu of a cheating one," Stahl noted, tapping his fingers on the wheel as he drove down a suburb road.

"Yeah, like 'Honey, I'm Good," and "Billion," huh?"

"Hey! You know Billion, too?"

"Uh-huh. It's such a cute song, how could I not know it?"

"I love it to pieces!" Here, once this song finishes, let's put it on," Stahl suggested, pulling his Galaxy out of his pocket and plugging it into the auxiliary.

The soon-to-be in love duo had fun grooving to the uplifting and catchy beat of the song before switching to "Billion."

"Now that I think of it..." Stahl exclaimed, looking over at Sumia as he drove down an alleyway, "This song shares a lot of similarities with how we met."

"You're right!"

_Stopped me in your tracks _

_The very first time_

_Had me goin' _

_The very first night _

_Waved goodbye, your keys locked inside _

_I knew you were the only one _

"Keys and cars," Sumia laughed. "Wow."

_Way funnier than anyone knows_

"If one can learn to appreciate your dirty sense of humor," Stahl prodded, poking Sumia in the shoulder. She stuck her tongue out at him and pushing his finger away.

_Seven billion in the world baby _

_I only wanna be with you _

_I don't want another girl baby _

_I only wanna be with you _

_Waiting for you all my life_

_I can't wait another night _

Sumia blushed.

"Is it warm in here? I think it's fine. Your face's red," Stahl ignorantly pointed out.

"No, I'm fine. Really," Sumia hastened to explain that she was NOT even considering what the song was saying to apply to her in her life. Sure, she liked the guy, but the lyrics... they just held too much meaning. Too much meaning, too much risk... and a huge reward, she found herself thinking, as she weighed the options.

_You're the only one for me _

_You're the only one I need _

_Search the whole world, far and wide, _

_Looking for your pretty eyes _

"You've got a great voice," Stahl complimented, pulling into his designated parking space. Though it wasn't assigned, everyone parked in their unspoken spot. Made it easier for everyone that way.

"Thanks, Stahl," Sumia replied, smiling. "You're not such a bad singer yourself."

He just chuckled and withdrew the keys from the ignition. "Shall I show you my humble abode?"

"Yeah! It took a while to get here, but the ride was a lot of fun. You're a lot of fun to be with, y'know that?"

"And you as well," Stahl replied, holding out his arm in a dramatic, gentlemanly way of escorting his now-friend, soon-to-be girlfriend into his apartment.

They couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. Nothing this real had ever happened to either of them before. But they'd make it work. Without a doubt, with the fear and nervousness in the hearts, they knew it would work out, somehow.

As lovers.

**AN: Didja like it? Then let me know in a review! Don't forget to follow and favorite! As always, thanks for reading, and I'll check back in with you in the next blip of content of whatever I write! **


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